1. Soybeans Higher Overnight on South American Weather

Soybeans hovered around seven-year highs in overnight trading on continued concerns about adverse weather in parts of South America.

In Brazil, excessive rain is preventing farmers from collecting their mature crops, which likely will lead to reduced production in the world’s largest exporter of soybeans.

Rainfall was near expectations this weekend, and likely will favor northern growing areas this week including Mato Gross, Goias, and Mina Gerais, said Donald Keeney, an agricultural meteorologist with forecaster Maxar.

The ongoing rains may further delay crop collections.

In Argentina, the opposite is a problem.

Soil moisture levels are short and rain is desperately needed in some areas. Rains in western Cordoba may give moisture a boost but likely will remain short in most other growing areas, stressing crops, Keeney said in a report.

Keeping prices from burning too hot is concern about slack demand for U.S. supplies.

READ MORE: Traders fade today's USDA report

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has reported one sale of more than 100,000 metric tons to overseas buyers of any agricultural commodity this month – on March 2. Prior to that, the agency hadn’t reported a large sale since Feb. 12.

Soybean futures for May delivery rose 4¢ to $14.37¾ a bushel overnight on the Chicago Board of Trade. Soymeal was unchanged at $416.10 a short ton, and soy oil rose 0.75¢ to 53.21¢ a pound.

Corn fell 2¢ to $5.45 a bushel.

Wheat futures for May delivery added 6¾¢ to $6.53¼ a bushel, while Kansas City futures gained 3¼¢ to $6.25 a bushel.

2. Export Inspections of Corn and Beans Plunge Week-to-Week

Inspections of corn and beans for overseas delivery plunged week-to-week while wheat assessments improved, according to the USDA.

Corn assessments in the seven days that ended on March 4 came in at 1.54 million metric tons, the agency said in a report.

That’s down from 2.05 million tons a week earlier, but was still higher than the 829,865 tons examined in the same week last year.

Soybean inspections were reported at 587,594 metric tons, down from 1 million tons a week earlier, the government said. It’s also slightly lower than the 589,900 tons examined a year earlier.

Assessments of wheat last week totaled 482,130 metric tons, up from the 341,438 tons inspected the previous week, the USDA said.

That’s also higher than the 459,865 tons examined during the same week in 2020.

Since the start of the marketing year on Sept. 1, the government has inspected 27.6 million metric tons of corn for offshore delivery. That’s well above the 15 million tons assessed during the same period a year earlier.

Soybean inspections since the beginning of September are now at 52.6 million tons, above the 30 million tons examined during the same time frame last year, the agency said.

Wheat examinations for overseas delivery since the start of the grain’s marketing year on June 1 now stand at 18.6 million metric tons, down slightly from the 19.3 million tons inspected during the same period the previous year, the USDA said in its report.

**

3. Winter Weather Headed to Upper Midwest Into Wednesday

Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories have been issued in parts of northeastern Wyoming, parts of South Dakota, and western Nebraska as heavy snow is expected, according to the National Weather Service.

As much as 9 inches of snow is expected to fall overnight into tomorrow morning in the area, the NWS said in a report early this morning.

The winter storm warning for the region begins at midnight tonight and lasts until 5 p.m. local time on Wednesday.

In central and eastern South Dakota, meanwhile, a winter weather advisory is in effect as 2 to 5 inches of snowfall is expected in the area, the agency said.

In the southern Plains, meanwhile, a red-flag warning is in effect due to low humidity and strong winds.

In southwestern Kansas and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, where hard-red winter wheat is overwintering, relative humidity is expected to be as low as 10% while winds will be sustained from 20 to 30 mph with gusts of up to 40 mph, the NWS said.